Mr. Speaker, representatives from Development and Peace recently came to Ottawa to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister's Office. This petition, with 190,000 signatures, is calling for the appointment of an independent ombudsman to look into human rights violations and damage to the environment by Canadian mining companies abroad.
The Conservative government still refuses to proceed, even though this recommendation already appeared in a March 2007 report. The Conservatives remain silent in the face of the report's recommendations, which the people who signed this petition find disappointing because the industry and non-governmental organizations agree on the idea of an ombudsman.
The Bloc Québécois is asking this uncaring Conservative government to act in the name of human rights and the environment by immediately appointing a mining ombudsman.